COLUMN: Famous Father's Day quotes

Published: Friday, June 14, 2013 at 06:00 PM.

Politicians, oddly enough, worked to right the ship. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended a national day of observance for fathers, but didn’t issue a proclamation so it didn’t go much of anywhere. In 1957, U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine blasted her colleagues by saying they had ignored fathers for decades while honoring mothers, thereby singling one parent out from the other.

That just didn’t seem right.

“My father was not a failure. After all, he was the father of a president of the United States.”

— President Harry S. Truman

Perhaps Truman himself would’ve been most surprised by the next series of events. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first proclamation honoring dads and set the date for such an event as the third Sunday in June. President Richard Nixon, a Truman adversary, made it a national holiday in 1972.

Then, of course, the greeting card industry celebrated.

“Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!”

“I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.”

— Sigmund Freud

How odd it seems today that the concept of Father’s Day got off to such a rocky start. Then again, the way it originally began is an all-American kind of story.

It was first created in 1910 in Spokane, Wash. by someone who questioned why there would be a day to honor mothers and not one for dear old dad.

It was a good question.

For a couple of years, the idea grew, but couldn’t really gain purchase in the national consciousness. It sort of hung there in limbo.

“If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right.”

— Bill Cosby

Then, politicians got ahold of it. Most can imagine what happened next.

In 1913, a bill was placed before Congress to turn Father’s Day into a national day of recognition. Congress, which was apparently getting things wrong even way back then, didn’t go for it, citing fears of overcommercialization.

Imagine.

So Father’s Day nearly perished right there and then.

“I bet after seeing us, George Washington would sue us for calling him ‘father.’”

— Will Rogers

Politicians, oddly enough, worked to right the ship. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended a national day of observance for fathers, but didn’t issue a proclamation so it didn’t go much of anywhere. In 1957, U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith of Maine blasted her colleagues by saying they had ignored fathers for decades while honoring mothers, thereby singling one parent out from the other.

That just didn’t seem right.

“My father was not a failure. After all, he was the father of a president of the United States.”

— President Harry S. Truman

Perhaps Truman himself would’ve been most surprised by the next series of events. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson issued the first proclamation honoring dads and set the date for such an event as the third Sunday in June. President Richard Nixon, a Truman adversary, made it a national holiday in 1972.

Then, of course, the greeting card industry celebrated.

“Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!”

— Lydia M. Child, Philothea: A Romance, 1836

Today, fathers nationwide will enjoy a day in the sun, basking in the glow of their offspring. We honor dads with words and deeds; cards and gifts — but not quite in the vast numbers with which we celebrate moms. Father’s Day is one of handshakes and hugs, not sweets or flowers. More telephone calls are made on Mother’s Day than any other holiday. More collect calls are made on Father’s Day.

Most dads wouldn’t have it any other way.

“When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.”

— William Shakespeare

We’ll finish with this quote on Father’s Day. It seems to sum up the often complicated give-and-take between fathers and their sons or daughters. But it’s not really that complicated at all, when we think about it.

“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.”